July 27, 2011

Two people were arrested and cited Monday night in Marysville in sting operations aimed at people who furnish alcohol to minors.

From 7 to 11 p.m., Marysville police officers working with Alcoholic Beverage Control investigators conducted undercover operations in the city, targeting people who agree to purchase or furnish alcohol to minors and stores that sell alcohol to minors.

The operation consisted of "shoulder tap" and "minor decoy" stings, according to a Police Department news release. Shoulder tap stings target people who purchase alcohol for underage drinkers, and minor decoy stings target store or restaurant employees who sell alcohol to minors.

Police arrested Pardeep Kumar Gill, 49, of Yuba City in the 900 block of Fifth Street after he sold an alcoholic beverage to a minor decoy. Gill did not ask the decoy his age or request identification, according to the news release.

Samantha Christine Code, 30, of Marysville was arrested in the 900 block of E Street after she agreed to purchase alcohol and then furnished the alcohol to the minor decoys, police said.

Gill and Code were arrested, cited and released at the scene.

The California Supreme Court has held that the decoy program is legal and not entrapment. The Marysville Police Department uses decoys who are obviously younger than 21, and the decoys disclose to adults that they are not old enough to purchase alcohol themselves, according to the news release.

Furnishing an alcoholic beverage to a person under age 21 is a misdemeanor, and police said violators face steep fines, possible jail time and community service hours. For the purposes of purchasing alcohol, anyone younger than 21 is considered a minor.

This was the first sting operation conducted under and $18,614 grant the Marysville Police Department received this month from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The monies will support operations through June 2012.

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